Where Power Sleeps

Chapter Two:The Gates Of Seraphine

Astrid

I step pass the gate of the prestigious Seraphine Academy. The young freshmen flit around, socializing with anyone they see. Most students are in groups, chatting around. Others prefer to walk alone.

The cool, refreshing air blows softly and a burst of flower petals and leaves dances in the breeze. The sound of birds chirping and the smell of flowers blooming paints a picture of the start of a new year in Seraphine Academy.

It has a regal but warm atmosphere – one that could make you feel comfortable even in a change of scenery. But I don’t care for that. It’s just another plain background to me.

I walk to the Aurelia hall where I’m assigned to. Gramps paid my tuition in full for all four years and donated money to the school and the surrounding companies and small businesses.

He invested so much in the school that he never spent any on himself.

“Um… are you lost, kid?” a girl who crouches down to my level chimes. She has silky shoulder-length hair and sparkling, curious eyes that foreshadow that she is a classic innocent and cheerful girl aka a ‘meddler’.

Classic cliché.

“I’m not a kid… I’m 16,” I say flatly.

I have a small stature so it’s not uncommon to be mistaken for a child.

“What? Oh, my mistake… hehehe,” she says sheepishly with a titter. “Nice to meet you, by the way! I’m Arial!”

She got over her awkwardness so soon.

Sigh. I just want to take a nap in my dorm. I’m about to walk past her when I remember that I promised Gramps I’ll try to make friends. Urgh fine.

“Nice to meet you too, I’m Astrid,” I say trying to sound friendly. I don’t know how to act since I’ve never had any friends. I just lived alone with Gramps.

“Wow! Such a pretty name! It translates to ‘beloved by the gods’. How neat,” she compliments.

Wow, someone did their onomatology.

“So, are you in Aurelia Hall too?” I inquire, starting to get used to talking to her.

“Yeah I am! Wanna walk togeth-” she’s interrupted by a loud boom noise coming from the east wing of the school.

She suddenly drags me along to check it out.

“What was that? Let’s go check it out,” she says with a serious expression.

No! How did I get apart of this?

When we reach there we see two boys fighting behind the raging crowd of students.

One is using a sword and the other is using magic.

“The Combat and Magic Faculty are at it again… Darian and Averon,” we hear a girl sigh.

Well, magic and swordmanship don’t mix well. And it can be competitive sometimes.

Darian sprints forward with surprising speed aiming to knock Averon out but Averon sees through his plan and counters with a protection spell and skillfully uses ‘windfall’ to blow him away.

Windfall? Used to blow the opponent away with a mighty gust. Pretty basic. Isn't it?

Darian is blown back but quickly holds his ground and takes a fighting stance.

Averon mirrors Darian’s every move, always one step ahead. But I notice something: he isn't attacking.

He must only know defense and be weak in offense, but he makes up for it by tracking the opponent’s moves and predicting the next.

Impressive.

Darian is quick on his feet and excels in close combat. He moves like the wind, launching a barrage of attacks.

With practice ease, he swings his sword, pushing Averon back.

The Combat Faculty cheers for him, raising their expectations.

But something feels off.

Averon’s moves seem sluggish, unlike before. Hmm…

Averon suddenly moves his hands in a strange way and it looks like he’s drawing infinity in the air.

That move, huh?

Out of nowhere, Darian gets trapped inside a prism made of compressed air.

That move is meant for defense, creating space between you and your opponent. But he used it to make a trap Darian for instead.

He was luring him inside, making his movements intentionally slower to trap Darian at the right spot. This guy…

Soon, Averon faints from lack of oxygen inside the box and Averon releases the spell. The crowd cheers for Averon Ashcroft, the strategist.

***

Arial literally drags me to go and meet Averon. I never wanted a part of this, yet look who’s stuck in the middle of it.

Averon is also a freshman like us. So Arial wants to befriend him even though he’s a total stranger! Sometimes I really don’t understand human behavior.

We spot him in the library reading a book about the theory of magic. That’s something people in the Alchemy Faculty would read.

Seems he’s a type of guy who likes to expand his horizons.

“Hi, I’m Arial!” she beams, her voice echoing louder than necessary in the quiet library, drawing disappointed stares from nearly everyone in the room.

Did you forget we’re in a library or what?

Her cheeks turn red but she regains her enthusiasm to make a new friend while Averon just stares at her.

“Not everyone is extroverted like you, Arial,” I drop into the seat beside Averon.

“Hey, I appreciate your quietness. It makes it easier to sleep,” I say with a yawn and put my head on the table.

He may look confident, but he actually seems like a quiet, introverted boy.

“I’m Averon…” His voice is quiet – almost reluctant.

He doesn’t talk much.

“I’m Arial! Wait - I said that already. Um… she’s Astrid.” Arial fidgets with a strand of her hair.

“You were great out there, by the way. You were all like boom! Zam! Whoosh!” She emphasizes childishly.

“Thank you for the compliment?” He tilts his head slightly, unsure how to react.

.

“Yippee! Now we’re all friends!” She beams.

So soon?

What’s this girl’s definition of friendship?

“Okay,” Averon agrees just like that.

Wow.

That was... easy. So this is how a social butterfly is? My head hurts, I need a nap.

I slip into sleep immediately while Arial keeps bugging Averon.

Out of nowhere, the ground starts shaking. It trembles, sending deep vibrations throughout the school.

“Is it an earthquake?!” Arial screams, already panicking.

I don’t even flinch. It’s not like a collapsing building could kill me.

A strange glowing symbol appears on the walls.

Suddenly, the floor vanishes and we are all somehow falling from the sky.

We were just in the school.

How can we suddenly be falling from 2 kilometers up?

“Ahhh! We’re gonna die! We’re falling too fast!” she panics while Averon sees no way out of this unless…

“Astrid wake up…” A hand nudges my shoulder.

“God, you’re noisy,” I say with a bit of irritation and the moment I open my eyes, a bright beam of light shoots from me.

They hit the ground with soft thuds while I float gently after them.

When my feet touch the ground, we’re no longer in the academy.

We’re in a forest?

We were just in school. Hmm… the person who brought us here probably used an advanced teleporting magic. But why did they bring us here?

“Welcome to the extermination, young contestants,” a deep voice echoes in our minds. But no one else is here.

“Did someone else hear something talking in their mind or am I just going crazy?” Arial asks, already fed up with surprises for today.

Hmm… it’s got to be an advanced magic item that allows you to speak telepathically.

“Don’t be frightened, you are now contestants in The Extermination,” The voice reverberates through our minds.

“What is The Extermination?” Averon inquires.

“It is like a game whose sole purpose is to eliminate the weak and preserve the strong in the New Generation,” The unseen speaker continues.

The New Generation is a group of young people that are hoped to carry out the will of Seraphine.

Seraphine was a holy saint. Using such sinful tactics to carry out her will feels so… wrong.

“Youngsters like you guys all around the land will try to survive 90 days in the game without getting killed by others. It’s a kill or be killed situation. Everyone is your enemy here. Trust someone at your own risk.” The voice warns.

“This is a dream, right? I’ll just wake up in 3…2…1! No? Okay, this isn’t a dream. At least I’ll be with my two best friends” Arial looks at the bright side.

“The Extermination… so they think of this as exterminating insects?” Averon ponders. What if it runs deeper than what he said?

“This is just the beginning…” I think.